Taking-Off And Landing Target Instrument And Automatic Taking-Off And Landing System

ABSTRACT

The taking-off and landing target instrument  2  to be used in an automatic taking-off and landing system, comprising a target  37  having as many light emitting elements  44  as required for displaying patterns and a target control unit  38  for controlling light emission of the light emitting elements, wherein the light emitting elements are provided on a taking-off and landing surface of the target and are arranged so that a target mark  43  having the center of pattern under all turned-on status is formed, and wherein the target control unit controls a light emission so as to display firstly all turned-on patterns where all of the light emitting elements are turned on, and next, so as to display the light emitting elements in a predetermined pattern.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a taking-off and landing targetinstrument and an automatic taking-off and landing system, according towhich a flying object can take off and land automatically.

In photographing or surveying operation from a position high up in thesky, it is possible to acquire such types of information, which cannotbe obtained by photographing from ground surface or by surveyingoperation on the ground surface, or such types of information can beobtained on a place where no person can enter and where it is difficultto perform photographing or surveying operation. In recent years, withthe progress of performance characteristics of a flying object such as asmall type airplane under remote control or a small type helicopteretc., with the improvement of remote control technique, further, withthe improvement of performance characteristics of image pickup deviceand with technical promotion to miniaturize devices and instruments,etc., it is now possible to provide an image pickup device on a smalltype flying object and to perform the completely automated photographingfrom a position high up in the sky by remote control.

For instance, a small type flying object is taken off automatically froma predetermined position (e.g. from a taking-off and landing deck) byremote control or according to a program incorporated in the small typeflying object. Then, the small type flying object is flown in apredetermined range to take photographs. After the completion of thephotographing, the flying object is operated to return to a presetposition where taking-off and landing deck is placed, and further, theflying object is landed automatically on the taking-off and landingdeck.

When a small type flying object is operated to take off, to fly and toland automatically, taking-off and landing is difficult to control, inparticular, it is difficult to control a small flying object to land ata predetermined position. Therefore, to make the small flying object flyautonomously, it is necessary to establish a technique to performautomatic taking-off and landing in safe and reliable manner by simplecontrol.

In the Japanese Patent Publication JP-A-2000-85694, a landing supportsystem is disclosed, which describes an operation to perform landing ofa small type flying object at a predetermined position. In the JapanesePatent Gazette No. 4253239, a navigation system is disclosed, which isused to accomplish landing of a helicopter at a point as desiredaccording to image recognition. The Japanese Patent Gazette No. 2662111,an automatic landing guidance method is disclosed, which describes aprocedure for guidance of vertical taking-off and landing operation byusing a plurality of image sensors. Also, the Japanese PatentPublication JP-A-9-302628 discloses a movable type taking-off andlanding facility for taking-off and landing operation of a small typeflying object.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the present invention to provide a taking-off andlanding target instrument and an automatic taking-off and landingsystem, by which it is possible to perform taking-off and landingoperation in reliable and safe manner to make the flying object flyautonomously.

To attain the above object, a taking-off and landing target instrumentaccording to the present invention to be used in an automatic taking-offand landing system, comprising a target having as many light emittingelements as required for displaying patterns and a target control unitfor controlling light emission of the light emitting elements, whereinthe light emitting elements are provided on a taking-off and landingsurface of the target and are arranged so that a target mark having thecenter of pattern under all turned-on status is formed, and wherein thetarget control unit controls a light emission so as to display firstlyall turned-on patterns where all of the light emitting elements areturned on, and next, so as to display the light emitting elements in apredetermined pattern.

Further, in the taking-off and landing target instrument according tothe present invention, wherein the predetermined pattern includes apattern to indicate address of the taking-off and landing targetinstrument.

Further, in the taking-off and landing target instrument according tothe present invention, wherein the predetermined pattern includes apattern to indicate direction with respect to the taking-off and landingtarget instrument.

Further, in an automatic taking-off and landing system according to thepresent invention, comprising a flying object and a taking-off andlanding target instrument, wherein the taking-off and landing targetinstrument comprises a target having as many light emitting elements asrequired for displaying patterns, and a target control unit forcontrolling light emission of the light emitting elements, and the lightemitting elements are provided on a taking-off and landing surface ofthe target and are arranged so that a target mark having the center ofpattern under all turned-on status is formed, and the target controlunit controls a light emission so as to display firstly all turned-onpattern where all of the light emitting elements are turned on, andnext, so as to display the light emitting elements in a predeterminedpattern, and wherein the flying object comprises an image pickup devicefor taking an image in downward direction, a navigation means, and aflying object control unit for processing images acquired by the imagepickup device and for controlling the navigation means, and the flyingobject control unit calculates positional relation of the target markand the flying object based on image of the target mark as acquired bythe image pickup device, and controls taking-off and landing operationof the flying object based on the result of calculation.

Further, in the automatic taking-off and landing system according to thepresent invention, wherein the predetermined pattern includes a patternto indicate address of the taking-off and landing target instrument, theflying object control unit calculates a position of the center of thetarget according to all turned-on pattern, calculates horizontaldistance between the target and the flying object, calculates altitudeof the flying object based on size of all turned-on pattern on theimage, and judges whether the taking-off and landing target instrumentis an object for landing based on the pattern indicated by the addressor not.

Further, in the automatic taking-off and landing system according to thepresent invention, wherein the predetermined pattern includes a patternto indicate direction with respect to the target, and the flying objectcontrol unit judges moving direction of the flying object according tothe pattern to indicate the direction.

Further, in the automatic taking-off and landing system according to thepresent invention, wherein the flying object has a flight communicationunit, the taking-off and landing target instrument has a targetcommunication unit, wherein the target communication unit transmits asynchronization signal for turning on and turning off when the lightemitting elements are turned on or turned off, the flying object controlunit acquires images of the target at the time of turning on and turningoff by the image pickup device based on the synchronization signalreceived by the flying object communication unit, and extracts a patternimage of each pattern based on image data of the target at the time ofturning on and turning off.

Furthermore, in the automatic taking-off and landing system according tothe present invention, wherein the taking-off and landing targetinstruments are installed at two or more points, an inherent address isgiven to each of the taking-off and landing target instruments, a flightplanning data are set up at the flying object control unit, the flyingobject control unit repeats taking-off and landing operationssequentially to two or more taking-off and landing target instrumentsbased on the flight planning data, and makes the flying object flyautonomously while a power supply unit of the flying object is replacedby the taking-off and landing target instrument.

According to the present invention, the taking-off and landing targetinstrument to be used in an automatic taking-off and landing system,comprising a target having as many light emitting elements as requiredfor displaying patterns and a target control unit for controlling lightemission of the light emitting elements, wherein the light emittingelements are provided on a taking-off and landing surface of the targetand are arranged so that a target mark having the center of patternunder all turned-on status is formed, and wherein the target controlunit controls a light emission so as to display firstly all turned-onpatterns where all of the light emitting elements are turned on, andnext, so as to display the light emitting elements in a predeterminedpattern. As a result, it is possible to display a target position by theall turned-on pattern display, to sequentially display the predeterminedpattern, and also to display information other than the target positionby the pattern.

Further, according to the present invention, in the taking-off andlanding target instrument, wherein the predetermined pattern includes apattern to indicate address of the taking-off and landing targetinstrument. As a result, in a case where there are two or moretaking-off and landing target instruments, it is possible to recognizethe instrument, and to prevent erroneous recognition and erroneouslanding operation.

Further, according to the present invention, in the taking-off andlanding target instrument, wherein the predetermined pattern includes apattern to indicate direction with respect to the taking-off and landingtarget instrument. As a result, a direction for landing on the target isindicated, and it is possible to provide reliable guidance for landingoperation.

According to the present invention, the automatic taking-off and landingsystem comprising a flying object and a taking-off and landing targetinstrument, wherein the taking-off and landing target instrumentcomprises a target having as many light emitting elements as requiredfor displaying patterns, and a target control unit for controlling lightemission of the light emitting elements, and the light emitting elementsare provided on a taking-off and landing surface of the target and arearranged so that a target mark having the center of pattern under allturned-on status is formed, and the target control unit controls a lightemission so as to display firstly all turned-on pattern where all of thelight emitting elements are turned on, and next, so as to display thelight emitting elements in a predetermined pattern, and wherein theflying object comprises an image pickup device for taking an image indownward direction, a navigation means, and a flying object control unitfor processing images acquired by the image pickup device and forcontrolling the navigation means, and the flying object control unitcalculates positional relation of the target mark and the flying objectbased on image of the target mark as acquired by the image pickupdevice, and controls taking-off and landing operation of the flyingobject based on the result of calculation. As a result, the flyingobject can confirm a target position by the all turned-on patterndisplay and further, by recognizing a predetermined pattern, it ispossible to collect information other than the target position by thepattern.

Further, according to the present invention, in the automatic taking-offand landing system, wherein the predetermined pattern includes a patternto indicate address of the taking-off and landing target instrument, theflying object control unit calculates a position of the center of thetarget according to all turned-on pattern, calculates horizontaldistance between the target and the flying object, calculates altitudeof the flying object based on size of all turned-on pattern on theimage, and judges whether the taking-off and landing target instrumentis an object for landing based on the pattern indicated by the addressor not. As a result, in a case where there are two or more taking-offand landing target instruments, it is possible to recognize theinstrument and to prevent erroneous recognition or erroneous landingoperation.

Further, according to the present invention, in the automatic taking-offand landing system, wherein the predetermined pattern includes a patternto indicate direction with respect to the target, and the flying objectcontrol unit judges moving direction of the flying object according tothe pattern to indicate the direction. As a result, the direction forlanding on the target is indicated, and it is possible to ensurereliable landing operation.

Further, according to the present invention, in the automatic taking-offand landing system, wherein the flying object has a flight communicationunit, the taking-off and landing target instrument has a targetcommunication unit, wherein the target communication unit transmits asynchronization signal for turning on and turning off when the lightemitting elements are turned on or turned off, the flying object controlunit acquires images of the target at the time of turning on and turningoff by the image pickup device based on the synchronization signalreceived by the flying object communication unit, and extracts a patternimage of each pattern based on image data of the target at the time ofturning on and turning off. As a result, the pattern of the target canbe recognized in reliable manner.

Furthermore, according to the present invention, in the automatictaking-off and landing system, wherein the taking-off and landing targetinstruments are installed at two or more points, an inherent address isgiven to each of the taking-off and landing target instruments, a flightplanning data are set up at the flying object control unit, the flyingobject control unit repeats taking-off and landing operationssequentially to two or more taking-off and landing target instrumentsbased on the flight planning data, and makes the flying object flyautonomously while a power supply unit of the flying object is replacedby the taking-off and landing target instrument. As a result, it ispossible to guarantee autonomous flight in wider range and to ensurephotographing and surveying operation in efficient and reliable manner.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an explanatory drawing to show general features of anembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematical block diagram of the embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 3 is a schematical block diagram of a taking-off and landing targetinstrument to be used in the embodiment;

FIG. 4A to FIG. 4F are explanatory drawings to show an example ofturned-on pattern of a target mark of a target to be used in theembodiment;

FIG. 5A to FIG. 5F are explanatory drawings to show another example ofturned-on pattern of a target mark of a target to be used in theembodiment;

FIG. 6 is a flow chart to explain turning-on and turning-off of a targetmark;

FIG. 7 is a flow chart to show operations at the time of landing in thepresent embodiment;

FIG. 8 is an explanatory drawing to show an application example of thepresent embodiment; and

FIG. 9 is a schematical block diagram to show another embodiment of thepresent invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Description will be given below on embodiments of the present inventionby referring to the attached drawings.

First, by referring to FIG. 1 to FIG. 3, description will be given ongeneral features of an automatic taking-off and landing system accordingto the present invention.

FIG. 1 shows a basic configuration of an automatic taking-off andlanding system according to a first embodiment of the present invention.The automatic taking-off and landing system primarily comprises a flyingobject 1 and a taking-off and landing target instrument 2 provided on abase station side. The flying object 1 is a helicopter, which executesan autonomous (self-controlled) flight as a small type flying object,for instance. Further, the helicopter 1 is designed so that it can beremotely controlled. In FIG. 1, numeral 12 represents a remotecontroller for remote control.

The taking-off and landing target instrument 2 has a target 37 (to bedescribed later) where a target mark 43 is displayed by light emissionof light emitting elements 44 (to be described later) and a targetcontrol unit 38 (to be described later), which controls the lightemission of the light emitting elements.

The helicopter 1 primarily comprises a helicopter body 3, propellers asrequired which are mounted on the helicopter body 3. For instance, thereare provided four sets of propellers 4, 5, 6 and 7 on front, rear, leftand right positions respectively. The propellers 4, 5, 6 and 7 areconnected to a first motor 8, a second motor 9, a third motor 10, and afourth motor 11 (to be described later) independently. Also, asdescribed later, the driving of each of the first motor 8, the secondmotor 9, the third motor 10, and the fourth motor 11 are controlledindependently from each other. The propellers 4, 5, 6 and 7 and thefirst motor 8, the second motor 9, the third motor 10, and the fourthmotor 11, etc., make up together navigation means of the flying object.

On the helicopter body 3 of the helicopter 1, there is provided acontrol device 13. As shown in FIG. 2, the control device 13 primarilycomprises a flight guiding unit 14, a flight control unit 15, a mainarithmetic control unit 16, a communication unit 17, and a power supplyunit 18.

The flight guiding unit 14 has a GPS device 20 as a position measuringdevice, an image pickup device 21, which is installed on an undersurfaceof the helicopter body 3, a flight guiding CPU 22 and a first storageunit 23. The image pickup device 21 is a digital camera or a videocamera or the like for taking digital images and takes images under thehelicopter 1.

The image pickup device 21 installed on the helicopter body 3 is notlimited only to an image pickup device for acquiring images invertically downward direction. A plurality of image pickup devices canbe provided and other image pickup devices 21 may be installed at apredetermined angle with respect to vertical line in such manner thatthe other image pickup devices 21 acquire images, which are deviated ina direction perpendicularly with respect to an advancing direction.Information collecting device to be installed on the helicopter 1 is notlimited to the image pickup devices 21, a distance measuring instrument,an infrared image pickup device, etc., can be considered.

The GPS device 20 is designed so as to determine a reference position ofthe helicopter 1, for instance, a mechanical center. Because valuesmeasured by the GPS device 20 represent coordinates (position) of ageocentric coordinate system (absolute coordinates system), and the GPSdevice 20 determines the coordinates of the reference position on thegeocentric coordinate system. Also, the image pickup device 21 has anoptical axis 19, which passes through the reference position, and theoptical axis 19 coincides with the vertical line when the helicopter 1is at horizontal position. Therefore, the image pickup device 21 canacquire images within a field angle θ as required directly under thehelicopter 1. Further, it is designed that the center of the imagecoincides with the reference position.

The images acquired by the image pickup device 21 and positions andtime, at which images have been acquired, are stored in the firststorage unit 23, and the images, the positions and the time areassociated. Further, flight planning data or the like to be used forperforming autonomous flight are stored in the first storage unit 23.The images and the position, the time of the acquisition of the imagesmay be stored in a third storage unit 31 as to be described later. Inthe first storage unit 23, a pattern for recognition is stored, which isused to recognize a pattern of a target mark 43 as to be describedlater. The pattern for recognition may be stored in the third storageunit 31 as to be described later.

In the first storage unit 23, various types of programs are stored.These programs include, for instance: an image processing program forimage processing to extract the target mark 43 (to be described later)from images acquired at the image pickup device 21, or the like, apattern recognition program for recognizing the target mark 43 bycomparing the extracted target mark 43 with the pattern for recognition,a flight guiding program for preparing flight guiding data from theflight planning data and from position information as measured by theGPS device 20, an image pickup control program for controlling pickup ofimages by the image pickup device 21, and other programs.

The flight control unit 15 comprises the first motor 8, the second motor9, the third motor 10, and the fourth motor 11, and a motor controller25 for driving and controlling these motors individually, and a flightcontrol CPU 26 for controlling the motor controller 25, a second storageunit 27, and a gyro unit 28, which issues a posture status signal bydetecting posture status of the helicopter 1 with respect to thehorizontal position.

In the second storage unit 27, the following programs are stored: aflight control program for calculating flight conditions such as flyingspeed, ascending speed, descending speed, flying direction, flyingaltitude, etc., based on the flight guiding data from the flight guidingunit 14, a posture control program for calculating information forposture control based on the posture status signal from the gyro unit28, and other programs. The flight control CPU 26 issues a flightcontrol command to the motor controller 25 according to the flightcontrol program, controls the first motor 8, the second motor 9, thethird motor 10, and the fourth motor 11 via the motor controller 25, andexecutes the flight thus determined. Also, the flight control CPU 26issues a posture control command to the motor controller 25 according tothe posture control program, controls the first motor 8, the secondmotor 9, the third motor 10, and the fourth motor 11 individually viathe motor controller 25, and controls the posture of the helicopter 1 ina condition as desired (e.g. in horizontal condition, i.e. a conditionwhere the optical axis 19 of the image pickup device 21 runs in verticaldirection).

The main arithmetic control unit 16 comprises a main CPU 30, a thirdstorage unit 31, and a switching unit 32. In the third storage unit 31,the following programs are stored: a coordination program forcoordinating and controlling the flight guiding unit 14 and the flightcontrol unit 15, the image processing program for processing imagesacquired by the image pickup device 21, the flight control program, acommunication control program, etc.

The communication unit 17 comprises a wireless communication unit 33, aninformation communication unit 34, etc. The wireless communication unit33 receives a remote flight control command from a base station on theground and sends communication on the flying condition of the helicopter1 to the base station. Also, the information communication unit 34 givesand takes information between the base station and the helicopter 1 byusing communication means such as wireless LAN or Bluetooth (registeredtrademark), etc. For instance, under conditions where the helicopter 1is landed on the base station, the flight planning data are transmittedfrom the base station to the helicopter 1, or information such as image,position, time, etc., which have been taken during the flight, aretransmitted from the helicopter 1 to the base station.

The power supply unit 18 is a rechargeable battery, which is replaceablefor instance. And the power supply unit 18 supplies electric power asnecessary to the flight guiding unit 14, the flight control unit 15, themain arithmetic control unit 16, and the communication unit 17 duringthe flight. In a case where the helicopter 1 is landed on the basestation, the power supply unit 18 is replaced with a recharged powersupply unit 18 and electric power is charged in the consumed powersupply unit 18.

Now, by referring to FIG. 3, description will be given below on thetaking-off and landing target instrument 2.

The taking-off and landing target instrument 2 comprises a target 37, atarget control unit 38, a wireless communication unit 39, a GPS device40, and a power supply unit 41.

The target 37 is disposed at a known position. A position where thetarget 37 is disposed is a known point whose position is already knownin advance, or a position where the target 37 is disposed is measured bythe GPS device 40 or by other measuring device so that the position isat a known position.

The target 37 has a horizontal and flat taking-off and landing surface42, which is sufficiently wide so that the flying object 1 can take offand land. A target mark 43 is provided on the taking-off and landingsurface 42.

The target mark 43 is arranged by providing a plurality of lightemitting elements 44 (e.g. light emitting diode: LED) in an arrangementas predetermined. For instance, in the target mark 43 as shown in FIG.3, the light emitting elements 44 are arranged in circumferentialdirection in form of a plurality of concentric circles at equal distanceintervals. On a circumference at the outermost position, 10 lightemitting elements 44 are arranged at equal angular intervals from eachother. On an intermediate circumference, 6 light emitting elements 44are arranged with equal angular intervals from each other, and one lightemitting element 44 is disposed at the center of the circle.

The target control unit 38 primarily comprises a target CPU 45, a fourthstorage unit 46, a matrix decoding unit 47, and an LED driving unit 48.

The wireless communication unit 39 transmits a position of thetaking-off and landing target instrument 2 as measured by the GPS device40, or the wireless communication unit 39 transmits a synchronizationsignal for synchronizing the light emission of the light emittingelement 44 with image pickup of the image pickup device 21 of thehelicopter body 3 to the flying object 1. Positional information of theflying object 1 as determined by the GPS device 20 is transmitted fromthe wireless communication unit 33, and is received by the wirelesscommunication unit 39.

A plurality of patterns for turning on and off the light emittingelements 44 in predetermined patterns are encoded and stored in thefourth storage unit 46, and data for turning on and off the plurality ofpatterns in a predetermined sequence are inputted.

The target CPU 45 calls in a code a required timing from the fourthstorage unit 46, and the code is inputted in the matrix decoding unit47. The matrix decoding unit 47 converts the turning-on and turning-offcodes of the light emitting elements 44 as inputted from the CPU 45 fortarget to each individual turning-on and turning-off information foreach of the light emitting elements 44, and the codes are inputted tothe LED driving unit 48. Based on the turning-on and turning-offinformation, the LED driving unit 48 turns on or turns off thepredetermined light emitting elements 44 in the pattern as preset in thepredetermined sequence.

By turning on and off the predetermined light emitting elements 44 inthe pattern as preset in the predetermined sequence, information on thetaking-off and landing target instrument 2 side can be transmitted tothe flying object 1. The types of information to be transmitted are, forinstance: position of the target 37 (such as coordinates of the target37, altitude of the flying object 1), direction of the flying object 1with respect to the target 37, address of the target 37, and others.

In a case where two or more targets 37 are installed, an addressinherent to each of the targets 37 is given and the flying object 1identifies the address of each of the targets 37. Therefore, erroneousrecognition or erroneous landing of the target 37 can be prevented. Byproviding two or more targets 37, it is possible to carry outphotographing and surveying operation in wider range.

Next, by referring to FIG. 4A to FIG. 4F, description will be given onan example of a turned-on pattern (lighting pattern) of the target mark43.

FIG. 4A shows a case where all of the light emitting elements 44 areturned on (hereinafter, this is referred as “center pattern”). When allof the light emitting elements 44 are turned on, the flight guiding unit14 of the flying object 1 recognizes the target mark 43 as a circle, andidentifies a size of the circle. By identifying the center of thecircle, a position (coordinates) of the target 37 can be judged, andaltitude of the flying object 1 can be determined by identifying thesize of the circle.

FIG. 4B shows a direction of the target 37 with respect to the flyingobject 1. The direction of the target 37 with respect to the flyingobject 1 can be calculated based on positional information of the flyingobject 1 as transmitted from the wireless communication unit 33 andbased on positional information of the taking-off and landing instrument2. Then, based on the result of calculation, an arrow mark to indicatedirection is turned on (arrow mark pattern). In the figure, an arrowmark directed in leftward direction is turned on. Each of FIG. 4C toFIG. 4F shows a case where an address is displayed in decimal system(hereinafter, this is referred as “address display pattern”). Forinstance, FIG. 4C shows a figure of digit 1 and indicates a numericalFIG. 1. FIG. 4D shows a figure of digit 2 and indicates a numerical FIG.4. FIG. 4E shows a figure of digit 3 and indicates a numerical FIG. 2.FIG. 4F shows a figure of digit 4 and indicates a numerical FIG. 3.Therefore, the address of the target 37 will be 1423.

The light emitting elements 44 are displayed in the order of FIG. 4A toFIG. 4F. By recognizing the patterns shown in FIG. 4A to FIG. 4F, it ispossible to determine a relative position of the flying object 1 withrespect to the target 37, and a direction, in which the flying operationshould be performed, and also, it is possible to judge whether thetarget 37 recognized is an object of landing operation or not.

FIG. 5A to FIG. 5F each represents an example of a turned-on pattern ofthe target mark 43.

In each of FIG. 5A to FIG. 5F, addresses of the target 37 are given inbinary system. As described above, FIG. 5A and FIG. 5B each represents acondition where all of the light emitting elements 44 are turned on.From the pattern shown in FIG. 5A, relative position of the flyingobject 1 and the target 37 can be identified. FIG. 5B shows a patternwhere an arrow mark is indicated, and by the pattern shown in FIG. 5B, adirection, in which the flying object 1 is flying can be identified.

In the addresses shown in FIG. 5C to FIG. 5F, FIG. 5C shows an addressbit 1, and the address bit 1 shows that all of the light emittingelements 44 are turned on. FIG. 5D shows an address bit 2. In this case,only the light emitting elements 44 on the outer circumference areturned off (a smaller circle compared with FIG. 5C), and this conditionindicates a figure “0”. For instance, FIG. 5E shows an address bit 3 andthe address bit 1 shows that all light emitting elements are turned on.FIG. 5F shows an address bit 4 and the address bit 1 shows that alllight emitting elements are turned on. Therefore, the address of thetarget 37 as shown in FIG. 5C to FIG. 5F is 1011 in binary system, andis 11 in decimal system.

Even when the light emitting elements 44 are displayed by the patternsas required, it is difficult to recognize the turned-on pattern(lighting pattern) from the images where the surrounding sceneries areincluded. Therefore, in the present embodiment, the processing as givenbelow is performed in order to recognize the pattern where the lightemitting elements 44 are turned on.

Display on the pattern as given above represents an example, andcombination and sequence order can be changed as necessary. A series ofpatterns are repeatedly displayed and types of information such asdirection, address, etc., are transmitted depending on the patterns. Byincorporating turning-on and turning-off of all of the light emittingelements 44 or a repeat display of a fixed pattern etc., at thebeginning of the display of the series of patterns, the time to thestarting of the pattern may be clearly indicated.

Description will be given below on turning-on and turning-off of thetarget mark 43 by referring to FIG. 6.

Turning-on and turning-off of the light emitting elements 44 of thetarget 37 are synchronized with image pickup of the target 37 by theimage pickup device 21.

First, a synchronization signal to instruct that the center pattern isto be turned on by the light emitting element 44 is transmitted from thetaking-off and landing target instrument 2 side to the flying object 1via the wireless communication unit 39. In synchronization with thetransmission of the synchronization signal, the center pattern is turnedon. When the flying object 1 receives the synchronization signal, animage of the target 37 where the center pattern is turned on is taken bythe image pickup device 21.

Next, a synchronization signal to instruct that the light emittingelement 44 is to be turned off is transmitted to the flying object 1,and the light emitting elements 44 are turned off. The image pickupdevice 21 takes the image of the target 37 where the light emittingelements 44 are turned off.

At the flight guiding CPU 22, a signal containing only the centerpattern can be extracted by removing image signals where the lightemitting elements 44 are turned off from image signals where the centerpattern is turned on (Step 01).

Similarly, the taking-off and landing target instrument 2 transmitssynchronization signals before each pattern is turned on and turned offto the flying object 1. The flying object 1 takes images of a conditionwhere each pattern is turned on and a condition where each pattern isturned off, and by removing image signal of the turn-off condition fromthe image signals of the turn-on condition, the signal containing onlyeach pattern is extracted. Then, based on the signal thus extracted,position of each target 37, direction with respect to the target 37, andaddress of the target 37 are identified (Step 02 to Step 06).

Next, description will be given on operation according to the presentembodiment.

First, description will be given on autonomous flight. The main CPU 30operates the switching unit 32 and sets up the switching unit 32 so thatflight guiding data from the flight guiding unit 14 are inputted to theflight control unit 15.

With the helicopter in landed condition, the flight planning data aretransmitted to the control device 13 via the information communicationunit 34, and the flight planning data are inputted to the first storageunit 23 via the main CPU 30. Also, position (absolute coordinates) ofthe taking-off and landing target instrument 2 are inputted. When all ofthe flight planning data are completely transmitted, autonomous flightis started based on the flight planning data.

In a case where two or more taking-off and landing target instruments 2are provided, an address inherent to each of the taking-off and landingtarget instruments 2 is given, and sequence of taking-off and landingoperation is determined for each of the taking-off and landinginstruments 2. The taking-off and landing operation of each of thetaking-off and landing target instruments 2 can be executed by settingthe address of each of the taking-off and landing target instruments 2.It may be so arranged that the power supply unit 18 is replaced eachtime when each of the taking-off and landing target instruments 2 islanded.

Based on the inputted flight planning data, the flight guiding unit 14prepares flight guiding data and inputs the flight guiding data to theflight control unit 15 via the switching unit 32. Then, based on theflight guiding data thus inputted, the flight control CPU 26 starts theflight by driving and controlling the first motor 8, the second motor 9,the third motor 10, and the fourth motor 11 via the motor controller 25.During the flight, positional information of the helicopter 1 isobtained from the GPS device 20. Then, based on the flight planning dataand the positional information, the flight guiding CPU 22 corrects theflight guiding data as adequate and inputs the data to the flightcontrol unit 15.

During the flight, the flight control CPU 26 controls the posture of thehelicopter 1 by adequately driving and controlling the first motor 8,the second motor 9, the third motor 10, and the fourth motor 11 via themotor controller 25 based on the posture status signal from the gyrounit 28.

Also, during the flight, the flight guiding unit 14 executes operationas planned such as photographing, surveying etc., as necessary bycontrolling the image pickup device 21 based on the flight planningdata.

When the planned operation has been completed, a return command isissued from the flight guiding unit 14. The helicopter 1 returns to thebase station and is landed on the target 37.

Now, referring to FIG. 7, description will be given on the landingoperation.

Based on the positional information acquired by the GPS device 20 and onthe coordinates of the target 37 inputted in advance, the position ofthe helicopter 1 with respect to the target 37 can be identified. Basedon the position of the helicopter 1, the flight guiding unit 14 correctsthe flight guiding data so as to guide the helicopter 1 to the basestation and transmits the flight guiding data to the flight control unit15 via the switching unit 32.

When the helicopter 1 arrives at a position in the sky above the target37, it is searched by image processing as to whether the target 37 isincluded in the images taken by the image pickup device 21 or not (Step11). Therefore, the relation between the accuracy of the measurement inthe horizontal direction of the GPS device 20 and the field angle θ ofthe image pickup device 21 is the relation in such manner that at aposition obtained based on the measurement result of the GPS device 20and at a predetermined altitude (at an altitude where the landingoperation is to be started), the image pickup device 21 can capture thetarget 37 (i.e. the target 37 is within a range of the field angle θ).

The recognizing of the target 37 means the recognizing of the targetmark 43 concretely. The recognizing of the target mark 43 is carried outby pattern recognition based on comparison with the pattern of thetarget mark 43 stored in the first storage unit 23. When the target mark43 is recognized, the guiding operation of the helicopter 1 is executedbased on the recognition of the target mark 43.

Positional information of the helicopter 1 is transmitted by thewireless communication unit 33 and is received by the wirelesscommunication unit 39. Based on the positional information of thehelicopter 1, when the helicopter 1 comes in a range where the imagepickup device 21 can capture the target 37, the taking-off and landingtarget instrument 2 starts to turn on the target mark 43. The pattern isdisplayed in the sequence shown in FIG. 5A to FIG. 5F.

Then, a deviation of the positions of the image of FIG. 5A and thecenter of the image (recognized by the pattern recognition) from thecenter of the image of the image pickup device 21 (a center of an imagepickup element) is obtained. This deviation is reflected on the flightguidance data, and the helicopter 1 is guided in such manner that thecenter of the target mark 43 as recognized coincides with the center ofthe image.

When the center of the target mark 43 coincides with the center of theimage, altitude is determined from the size of the image of the targetmark 43. A diameter of a circle which is formed by all turning-on of thelight emitting elements 44 is a known value, and a size of the circle(for instance, a diameter) on an image pickup element of the imagepickup device 21 is detected.

Actual dimension of the target mark 43 is already known and is stored inthe first storage unit 23 in advance. Thus, by comparison with thedimension stored, a distance from ground surface to the helicopter 1,i.e. an altitude, is determined. Further, in a case where the diameters(perpendicularly crossing each other) of the target mark 43 are notequal to each other, the circle is recognized as an ellipse. By a ratioof major axis to minor axis, deviation of angle and direction ofdeviation of the flying object 1 with respect to the vertical line,which passes the reference position of the target mark 43, can bedetermined, and the position of the helicopter 1 can be correctedaccording to the deviation of angle and to the direction of deviationthus determined.

The direction to be corrected is indicated by the pattern of FIG. 5B.

Turning-on operations of the light emitting elements 44 of the target 37are carried out sequentially according to FIG. 5B and FIG. 5C to FIG.5F. Based on FIG. 5C to FIG. 5F, the helicopter 1 detects the address ofthe target 37. If the address thus detected is correct, descendingoperation is continued. In a case where the address of the target 37 isdifferent, descending operation is stopped, and the target 37 with acorrect address is searched.

During a process that the address of the target 37 is corrected anddescending operation is continued, it may be so arranged that the centerof the target mark 43 is continuously detected and position of thehelicopter 1 is corrected according to the deviation from the imagecenter (Step 12 and Step 13).

Further, when altitude of the helicopter 1 is identified, the altitudethus determined is reflected to the flight guiding data. Under thecondition that the center of the target mark 43 concurs with the centerof the image, the helicopter 1 is descended.

By continuously measuring the altitude and through differentiation bytime, descending speed can be determined. Then, it is judged whether thedescending speed coincides with the flight planning data or not. Theflight guidance data based on this judgment are sent to the flightcontrol unit 15. Based on the flight guidance data, the flight controlCPU 26 drives and controls the first motor 8, the second motor 9, thethird motor 10, and the fourth motor 11 via the motor controller 25, andthe descending speed is controlled (Step 14 and Step 15).

During the descending operation, the target mark 43 is continuouslyrecognized by image processing. By detecting a deviation of the centerof the target mark 43 from the optical axis 19 of the image pickupdevice 21 (i.e. a deviation from the center of the image), thehelicopter 1 can be accurately landed at the center of the target mark43.

As a result, in a case where two or more taking-off and landing targetinstruments 2 are installed, without mistaking the target for taking-offand landing, the helicopter can be landed on the target 37 with highaccuracy in the autonomous flight. The image pickup device 21 foracquiring the image to detect the target mark 43 can be commonly used asa device, by which aerial photograph is taken by the helicopter 1.Because final positioning is carried out by image processing of thetaken target mark 43, the GPS device 20 provided on board the helicopter1 need not be with high accuracy, and it may be a device less costlywith measurement accuracy of about 10 meters, for instance.

Therefore, no specific device is needed for operating the automatictaking-off and landing system in the present embodiment, and the landingguidance with high accuracy can be accomplished by simple configurationand at lower cost.

In the embodiment as described above, if the burden on the flightguiding CPU 22 is heavy such as the case of image processing in theflight guiding unit 14, etc., the burden of the processing may be sharedby the main CPU 30, or the storage of the data and the program may beshared by the first storage unit 23 and the third storage unit 31.

In the description as given above, it may be so arranged that thecoordinates of the target 37 is inputted as a part of the flightplanning data, while it may be arranged so that the GPS device and thecommunication device are provided on the base station side, that theposition of the target mark 43 is measured by the GPS device on the basestation side, and also, and that positional information of the targetmark 43 is transmitted from the communication device to thecommunication unit 17 on the helicopter 1 side. The GPS device on thebase station side may not necessarily be used to measure the position ofthe target mark 43, but it would suffice if the position (absolutecoordinates) to be measured by the GPS device on the base station sidemay be in a known relation with the position of the target 37. Withregard to the position of the target 37 as acquired based on themeasurement value of the GPS device on the base station side, when thetarget mark 43 is fixed, there is no change in the position of thetarget mark 43, and the position of the target mark 43 may be inputtedto the control device 13 as the flight planning data. In this case, thecommunication device on the base station side may be omitted.

When the helicopter 1 takes off, an operation procedure reverse to theoperation procedure of the landing as described above is carried out.That is, under the condition that the image pickup device 21 can takethe image of the target mark 43, the target mark 43 is recognized fromthe acquired image, and ascending speed and altitude are calculated andthen, the ascending operation can be controlled. In a case where thehelicopter 1 reaches a predetermined altitude, autonomous flight isexecuted based on the flight planning data, and also based on positionalinformation acquired at the GPS device 20.

Next, description will be given on the flight of the helicopter 1 byremote control operation.

The switching unit 32 is operated via the main CPU 30, and the mainarithmetic control unit 16 is connected with the flight control unit 15so that the flight guiding data can be sent to the flight control unit15 from the main arithmetic control unit 16.

A remote control signal is transmitted from the remote controller 12 onthe base station side, and the remote control signal is received via thewireless communication unit 33. The main CPU 30 starts the flightcontrol program, prepares the flight guiding data based on the remoteoperation signal, and inputs the flight guiding data to the flightcontrol unit 15 via the switching unit 32.

The flight control CPU 26 controls the flight via the motor controller25 based on the flight guiding data, and controls posture of thehelicopter body 3 based on a posture status signal from the gyro unit28.

In landing the helicopter 1, similarly to the case of autonomous flight,the image pickup device 21 takes the image of the target 37 and from theimage of the target 37, the target mark 43 is extracted. A center of thetarget mark 43 (in a state of all turning-on of the image pickupelements 44), positioning is carried out between the target mark 43 andthe helicopter body 3. The image of the target mark 43 as taken by theimage pickup device 21 is displayed on a display unit (not shown) of theremote controller 12, and the landing operation may be carried out bymanual remote-control operation according to the image.

FIG. 8 shows an application example of the embodiment.

In this application example, the target 37 is installed on a mobileobject, e.g. on ceiling of an automobile 51, and a tracking system usingthe automatic taking-off and landing system is configured.

If the flight planing data is so designed that the helicopter 1 ispositioned at all times directly above the target mark 43, the flightguiding unit 14 recognizes the target mark 43, and the flight guidingunit 14 calculates a deviation of the center of the target mark 43 fromthe optical axis 19 of the image pickup device 21 (i.e. the center ofthe image). Then, the flight guiding data is prepared so that the centerof the target mark 43 coincides with the optical axis 19 of the imagepickup device 21, and the data are transmitted to the flight controlunit 15. The flight control unit 15 controls the helicopter body 3 sothat the helicopter body 3 is directly above the target mark 43 based onthe flight guiding data, i.e. based on recognition of the position ofthe target mark 43 on the image.

When the automobile 51 is moved, the helicopter 1 is also moved tofollow the movement of the target mark 43. Therefore, if the automobile51 is moved along a route where information is required, informationsuch as image data within the range where the automobile 51 etc., ismoved can be acquired.

Another type of tracking system can be conceived. That is, by the GPSdevice 40 installed on the taking-off and landing target instrument 2,the position of the target 37, that is, the position of the automobile51 is measured at real time, and the result of the measurement by theGPS device 40 is transmitted to the control device 13. It may be soarranged that based on the result of the measurement by the GPS device20 of the helicopter 1 and on the result of the measurement by the GPSdevice 40, the control device 13 obtains deviation of positions, and thecontrol device 13 makes the helicopter 1 trace after the automobile 51so that the deviation will be 0.

FIG. 9 shows another embodiment. In FIG. 9, the same component as shownin FIG. 2 is referred by the same symbol, and detailed description isnot given here.

In this another embodiment, the flight guiding CPU 22 and the flightcontrol CPU 26 of the above embodiment are put together in the main CPU30, and a first storage unit 23 and a second storage unit 27 are puttogether in a third storage unit 31.

In this another embodiment, the CPUs and the storage units are puttogether. As a result, it is possible to provide an automatic taking-offand landing system with simple configuration and in more convenientarrangement.

In the embodiment as given above, the target mark 43 is designed incircular shape, while the target mark 43 may be in rectangular shape ortriangular shape, in any shape where the center can be easily obtained.Also, the display of address is not limited to decimal system or binarysystem, but shapes of various types of marks themselves, which can beformed by the target mark 43, may be allotted as the address. Forinstance, an address 1 may be given in triangular shape, an address 2 isgiven in semi-circular shape, and an address 3 may be given in star-likeshape.

It is needless to say that the present embodiment can be applied foroperations to collect information by using a small flying object such asinvestigation of agricultural products, soil quantity control,construction work control, topographical investigation, investigationson buildings and constructions, investigations on electric powertransmission towers, dams, and bridges, investigation on conditions ofdangerous areas, monitoring and surveillance, etc.

1. A taking-off and landing target instrument to be used in an automatictaking-off and landing system, comprising a target having as many lightemitting elements as required for displaying patterns and a targetcontrol unit for controlling light emission of said light emittingelements, wherein said light emitting elements are provided on ataking-off and landing surface of said target and are arranged so that atarget mark having the center of pattern under all turned-on status isformed, and wherein said target control unit controls a light emissionso as to display firstly all turned-on patterns where all of said lightemitting elements are turned on, and next, so as to display said lightemitting elements in a predetermined pattern.
 2. A taking-off andlanding target instrument according to claim 1, wherein saidpredetermined pattern includes a pattern to indicate address of saidtaking-off and landing target instrument.
 3. A taking-off and landingtarget instrument according to claim 1 or claim 2, wherein saidpredetermined pattern includes a pattern to indicate direction withrespect to said taking-off and landing target instrument.
 4. Anautomatic taking-off and landing system, comprising a flying object anda taking-off and landing target instrument, wherein said taking-off andlanding target instrument comprises a target having as many lightemitting elements as required for displaying patterns, and a targetcontrol unit for controlling light emission of said light emittingelements, and said light emitting elements are provided on a taking-offand landing surface of said target and are arranged so that a targetmark having the center of pattern under all turned-on status is formed,and said target control unit controls a light emission so as to displayfirstly all turned-on pattern where all of said light emitting elementsare turned on, and next, so as to display said light emitting elementsin a predetermined pattern, and wherein said flying object comprises animage pickup device for taking an image in downward direction, anavigation means, and a flying object control unit for processing imagesacquired by said image pickup device and for controlling said navigationmeans, and said flying object control unit calculates positionalrelation of said target mark and said flying object based on image ofsaid target mark as acquired by said image pickup device, and controlstaking-off and landing operation of said flying object based on theresult of calculation.
 5. An automatic taking-off and landing systemaccording to claim 4, wherein said predetermined pattern includes apattern to indicate address of said taking-off and landing targetinstrument, said flying object control unit calculates a position of thecenter of said target according to all turned-on pattern, calculateshorizontal distance between said target and said flying object,calculates altitude of said flying object based on size of all turned-onpattern on said image, and judges whether said taking-off and landingtarget instrument is an object for landing based on the patternindicated by said address or not.
 6. An automatic taking-off and landingsystem according to claim 4 or claim 5, wherein said predeterminedpattern includes a pattern to indicate direction with respect to saidtarget, and said flying object control unit judges moving direction ofsaid flying object according to the pattern to indicate said direction.7. An automatic taking-off and landing system according to one of claim4 to claim 6, wherein said flying object has a flight communicationunit, said taking-off and landing target instrument has a targetcommunication unit, wherein said target communication unit transmits asynchronization signal for turning on and turning off when said lightemitting elements are turned on or turned off, said flying objectcontrol unit acquires images of said target at the time of turning onand turning off by said image pickup device based on the synchronizationsignal received by said flying object communication unit, and extracts apattern image of each pattern based on image data of said target at thetime of turning on and turning off.
 8. An automatic taking-off andlanding system according to one of claim 4 to claim 7, wherein saidtaking-off and landing target instruments are installed at two or morepoints, an inherent address is given to each of said taking-off andlanding target instruments, a flight planning data are set up at saidflying object control unit, said flying object control unit repeatstaking-off and landing operations sequentially to two or more taking-offand landing target instruments based on said flight planning data, andmakes said flying object fly autonomously while a power supply unit ofsaid flying object is replaced by said taking-off and landing targetinstrument.